Monday 7 November 2011 03.01 EST
First published on Monday 7 November 2011 03.01 EST

Lescott states his case

Picking players on merit, rather than reputation, was going to be Fabio Capello's thing. It was what he was going to do differently from the previous regimes; that and discipline. His England was going to be the Sparta to Steve McClaren and Sven-Goran Eriksson's Athens. It is questionable whether the Italian has followed through with the threat to select only those who merit it but by recalling Manchester City's Joleon Lescott for the current England squad this time he has.

Lescott has been integral to one of the meanest defences in the Premier League and is the highest ranked English central defender, according to EA's rankings. He has started every single league game this season for Roberto Mancini's side and has, like Micah Richards, blossomed into a more competent defender under Mancini's stewardship. Since the start of last season City have won 74% of games in which Lescott has started. The former Everton defender may have made only five tackles in his last two games but he has won all of them.

Lescott has not played in a competitive match for England since the dour draw with Montenegro in 2010 but on current form surely deserves to start ahead of players such as Gary Cahill – who has been central to a shambolic Bolton defence that has conceded only one goal fewer from their opening 10 games than Barnsley did in 1997-98 – or Phil Jagielka, who both made the England squad despite not being ranked in the top 100 players in the league. IMc

Beating newly promoted Norwich at home by the odd goal in five is not in itself reason to break out the low-alcohol lagers – though the Canaries have already proved themselves to be demanding guests at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and Anfield – and Alex McLeish's aesthetic probably does not have your average Villan chirping over his cornflakes come Saturday morning.

But at their most recent zenith, under Martin O'Neill, Villa were a ruthlessly effective counterattacking side built on a solid defence and with pace on the flanks. McLeish's reputation for keeping it tight precedes him and, after the disjointed farrago that was Gérard Houllier's reign, the burgeoning partnership between Agbonlahor and Bent is just one reason that fans of the club should consider whistling a Monty Python number under their breath.

"There is no reason why myself and Gabby cannot get in the England team together and it should help England that we play week in and week out together at club level," said Bent, of his team-mate's call-up for the friendlies against Spain and Sweden. "There is no doubt that Gabby is right on top of his game and he has really stepped forward and up to the mark this season." Agbonlahor, who won the last of his three England caps more than two years ago, has not only rediscovered his goalscoring form but his performances have gone a long way to making up for the shortfall in creativity occasioned by the departures of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, not to mention Charles N'Zogbia's underwhelming start to life at Villa Park.

Villa currently lie eighth, with two more points (and six more goals) from their 11 games than at the same point last year – albeit that start was undermined by the shock resignation of O'Neill and then the baton passing from Kevin McDonald to Houllier. That may be a glass-half-full way of looking at things – and terrace PMA is often rarer than a decent moustache on a Movember fundraiser – but it is more constructive, say, than grousing about your manager's former allegiances. What is certain is that after away trips to Tottenham and Swansea this month, December will be crucial in deciding the direction of Villa's season, as McLeish's side host Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. They will certainly need the fans at their backs, not on their backs, then. AG

*Don't take the bait. Oh, go on then.

Ramsey is playing Cesc-y football

With the advent of Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary came the inevitable question of succession. Who will it be? José Mourinho? David Moyes? Martin O'Neill? Whoever it is, he faces an unenviable task. The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, faced a similar crisis this summer. With the departure of Cesc Fábregas and Jack Wilshere's injury problems, who would take the Catalan's place at the heart of the Gunners midfield? Who could provide that late surge into the box? Who could slice open the meanest of defences? Mikel Arteta was brought in on deadline day but at 29 and arguably a few seasons past his best, he is a short-term solution. The real heir is Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey is, understandably, keen to avoid comparisons with Fábregas. "Cesc is a different player. He was a great player for this club but hopefully I can bring my own style to this team and create opportunities to score goals and get on the scoresheet myself. That's what I am aiming to do." Of course, if Ramsey really wanted to stop these comparisons, he would not play like he did on Saturday against West Brom. As well as getting forward and trying to score, his passing was crisp, clean and precise – he had a whopping 93% completion rate and his defence-splitting pass to Theo Walcott effected his side's first goal.

It was a mature performance from a player who has not let the horrendous injury suffered against Stoke last year halt his impressive rise. Plaudits for the game will no doubt concentrate on the performance on Robin van Persie but, if Ramsey continues in this form, Arsenal will no longer be known as a one horse town. IMc

Goalkeepers should start demanding overtime

This has not been a season for defences, with more goals so far than a weekend team-building retreat for a group of office middle managers. The Premier League kept up its recent scoring rate of three goals per game with another 31 at the weekend – thanks largely to Bolton, would you believe it? – but there was some cheer for those of the Blizzard generation. United kept their fourth clean sheet in a row since the Demolition Derby, Arsenal were buoyed by the return of a defender worthy of the name in Thomas Vermaelen, and Swansea, particularly through the inspired goalkeeper Michael Vorm, maintained their very tidy start to life in the Premier League with a fifth shut-out, against Liverpool.

Meanwhile at Molineux Ali al-Habsi was named man of the match despite conceding three in Wigan's defeat to Wolves. Habsi's efforts included a double save to deny first Stephen Hunt and then Jamie O'Hara – the latter reminiscent of David Seaman's elastic-armed block off Paul Peschisolido – and meant he nicked the stop-of-the-weekend award from Keiren Westwood, whose acrobatics kept out Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra in quick succession at Old Trafford. Appropriately, given the prevailing goal rush, Wolves scored past Habsi at the third attempt ... but later on Sunday Brad Friedel (also man of the match) and his Spurs team-mates proved such effort is worth it as the visitors to Craven Cottage escaped Fulham's 31-shot barrage with just one goal conceded and all three points.

Defending may be a forgotten art but goalkeepers, it seems, have longer memories. AG

Fergie can be surprised – and still surprise us

There have already been one or two column inches written about Sir Alex Ferguson over the weekend but we know you will not begrudge the United overlord a word or two more. First was the touching sight of an emotion other than purple rage consuming the 69-year-old Scot, as he smiled warmly and bowed his head at the christening of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand before kick-off against Sunderland, thanking the United supporters "who've been fantastic to me and my family". He almost had us convinced that he is not an ice-blooded automaton motivated solely by winning. Almost. Then came the revelation that he had not an inkling of the plans for his 25th anniversary, which include the commissioning of a statue to stand outside Old Trafford. A sign that the old duffer is finally losing his grip? Perhaps, given another quarter century, we could grow to like him after all … AG